BROOKLYN, Mich. — No matter what you look for in a NASCAR race, Sunday’s battle at MIS should have been one you enjoyed.
For starters, there was plenty of drama and cautions to spice things up.
Nobody was able to run away out front, restarts were hectic and, unlike June, there was actual competitive passes up front for the lead throughout the race.
Often, the two cars battling for the lead would be side-by-side for an entire lap or more before either one got the advantage.
There was also great parity, with no clear favorite to win. At one point, all 4 Gibbs Toyotas ran 1-2-3-4 up front.
At another point, the 3 Penske Fords plus affiliated Paul Menard ran 1-2-3-4 up front
Chevys including Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson also ran strong all race and made things interesting.
BROOKLYN, Mich. — A hometrack race just means more.
And for Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones, who both cut their teeth at local Michigan tracks including Waterford Hills, that home track in the Cup series is Michigan International Speedway.
Neither has won a Cup race at MIS (in fact, no Michigan-born driver has won a Cup race at MIS), but this might be the weekend that changes. Both are very fast so far this weekend.
Keselowski’s speed came through in qualifying Friday, when he went out last in qualifying and beat everyone with a speed of 190.471 MPH. He previously won the pole at MIS in August 2017.
“I think the track was in really good shape,. I don't know if there was anything that really favored us, mostly it was just the team doing a great job with the preparation and executing a flawless lap driving the car. Most of the credit goes to my team for sure.”
BROOKLYN, Mich. — I’ll start with a proclamation: The Truck Series is the best and most competitive of the three top-tier series in NASCAR, so when Saturday’s race at MIS kicked off, I had high expectations.
In the end, as per usual, I was not disappointed.
With the exception of the opening 20-lap segment, which was dominated by Ross Chastain before he had some bad luck and incurred damage on pit road, the race was one of the best all season.
Ben Rhodes, in a smooth-looking Havoline throwback paint scheme, threatened to take the win and enter the playoffs. Brett Moffitt was in the hunt for yet another win. Young Tyler Ankrum was on the front row for several restarts, and even the KBM trucks made appearances up front as they battled in their final attempt to make the playoffs.
Electric vehicles will eventually be coming to a mass audience.
It’s just a matter of how fast they get here.
And while that timetable is debatable, what’s happening right now is automakers are each making their claim on this territory at the outset. Kia has jumped into the fray with the 2019 Kia Niro EV — a full-electric version of it’s Niro crossover, which is also offered as a hybrid.
How does the Niro EV compare to the growing field of EVs? Quite well actually, punctuated by a 239-mile range, roomy interior and high-tech offerings.
While other EVs may get more press, the Niro EV displays enough positive attributes to be a dark horse in the EV battlefield.
Additional Info
- Vehicle 2019 Kia Niro EV
- Price as tested $47,155 (starts at $39,495)
- Best feature No gas required, strong tech features
- Rating 4 out of five stars
- Who will want this vehicle? Electric car buyers looking for a non-luxury EV with a strong range
If you want to talk about categories that are exploding in the past few years, subcompact SUVs are probably at the top of the list. On the higher end of things, nearly every luxury automaker has one these days (BMW, Cadillac, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Infiniti, to name a few), so you need to do something to stand out.
Lexus’ entry in this segment is the UX, which stands out in a couple of ways.
First, new for 2019 is a hybrid version of the UX, which is unheard of in this segment.
Also, you can opt for an attractive F Sport package which spices up the exterior and the performance.
I recently spent some time in a 2019 Lexus UX 250h F Sport, which featured both the hybrid engine and the F Sport package, and I’m back with a full report.
Additional Info
- Vehicle 2019 Lexus UX 250h F Sport
- Price as tested $40,910 (starts at $36K)
- Best feature Excellent fuel mileage, sharp design, safety features
- Rating 4 out of five stars
- Who will want this vehicle? Luxury crossover buyers seeking a tech-savvy, fun ride with great fuel mileage
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